Clock casing construction



06L 17, 1933- P HODGE 1,931,457

cccccc ASING CONSTRUCTION Filed May 10, 1930 '2 Sheets-Sheet l Oct. 17, 1933. A. P. HO'DGE 1,931,457

CLOCK CAS ING CONSTRUCTION Filed May 10, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Oct. 17, 1'9 3' Arr:

T, FFICE i 1,931,451 CLOCK CASING CONSTRUCTION Albert P. Hodge, Winsted, Conn., assignor to William L. Gilbert Clock Company, Winsted, Conn., a corporation of Connecticut Application May 10, 1930. Serial No. 451,318

2 Claims.

This invention has to do generally with the art of clocks, and deals more particularly with the construction of the casing which houses the clockworks. i

At the present time there is a type of clock which is meeting with widespread approval by the buying public. This type of clocl: may be characterized as including a front plate and a casing, the cylindrical casing having integrally formed therewith a backpiece. A clockworles including a bezel is located in the casing and serves a means for clamping the casing to the front plate;

When this arrangement of parts is assembled, the

bezel bears against the front face of the front plate while bolts constituting, part of the clockworks extend through openings in the backpiece and have nuts threaded thereon so that the casing is rigidly clamped against the face of the front plate.

The above noted design of clocks was a result of certain development work aiming towards simplicity in the design of the casing construction of a clock. The present invention contemplates a still further development along this line which provides for a clock casing of even more construction in design and the .o more sturdy structure which is not liable to becoming disassembled during handling and ship ping. The invention has in View the provision of a clock which includes a casing that has the front plate integrally formed therewith. Such a clock comprises only .vo main parts, to wit: the clockworks, and the casing, which includes a backpiece and front plate as integral parts thereof.

A casing construction embodying the above noted thought is extremely satisfactory from the manufacturers View point. The ordinary manufacturing p'ocess for forming the casings new in use is a spinning one, and these casi: gs formed in their intermediate step with flanges around the open end thereof, wlich flanges new removed so as to provide a plain edge for abutting with the front plate. When the present inven on is followed these ages are made sufficiently large to have the fi. ht plateformed therein by some suitable manufacturing processes such as stamping dies. This condition results in a formation of the casings with the front plate by substantially the same process which formerly was availed of to form the casings without the front plate, and obviates the need for manufacturing the individual front plates, together with the attendant assembling operations.

Other objects will be in part obvious and in part pointed out more in detail hereinafter.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combination of elements and arrangement of parts which will be exemplified in the construction hereinafter set for and the scope of the application of which will be in 0 dicated in the appended claims.

For a full and more complete understanding of the invention, reference may be had to the fol-.

lowing description and accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a viewin front elevation of a clock made in accordance with the present invention.

Figure 2 is a side elevational showing of the clock shown in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a section through the clock casing taken about on the plane represented by the 3-3 of Figure 1, and

Figure 4 is a front view of a casing during he intermediate stage of manufacturing, shot a flange thereon prior to the stamping acti which forms the front plate therein.

Referring now to the drawings, a clockworks is represented generally by the reference character A while a casing is broadly designated B. The clockworks A includes a flange or bezel 10 which is connected to the frame of the works in a well known manner, and a plurality of threaded bolts 11 extend from the rear portion of the clockworks A. a

The casing B inclu es a cylindrical portion with which is integrally formed a backpiece in which are formed openings '14, the number of the openings corresponding with the number of bolts 11. These bolts 11 extend through the openings 14 and nuts 15 are threaded thereon. The cylindrical portion of the casing 12 is turned over to provide a front plate 16 which may be of any preferred design such as that shown in Figure 1. This front plate 16 has a marginal turned over flange 1'"! for strengthening and appearance purposes and is preferably formed so that bottom portion thereof constitutes a supporting rest for the clock. The illustrated design shows the front plate as formed with feet portions 8 which are designed to engage with the support ing surface on which the clock rests. Ordinarily the clock would beplaced in a tilted position with the feet portion 18 resting on the surface as well as the rearmost portion of the'cyiindrical casing 12. J 105 In assembling the clock embodying the above 7 described features, the clockworks A are inserted in the casing B with the bezel 10 abutting the front face of the front plate 16and with the bolts 11 extending through the openings 14. TheillO nuts 15 are then threaded on the bolts 11 to maintain the parts in their assembled relation.

It is evident that a clock such as hereinbefore described is just about the ultimate in simplicity of design. Moreover, it is extremely easily manui'actured. As shown in Figure 4 the casing B is first made-with a comparatively large circular flange 25 by the ordinary spinning operation which has been customarily employed in forming casings having integral backpieces. The casing in the condition having the flange 25 is subject to the influence of stamping dies of proper design to form the front plate therein. With this arrangement liability of inadvertent disassembly of parts has been reduced to a minimum owing to the fewest possible number of parts being employed, and at the same time nothing is sacrificed in the way of appearance or sturdiness in the casing construction.

As many changes could be made in the above construction and many apparently widely different embodiments of this invention could be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the language used in the following claims is intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

What is claimed is:

1. A clock of the character described, comprising a clockworks including a bezel, a one piece cylindrical casing having an integral back piece and an integral outwardly turned flange to provide an integral front plate, and common means including threaded bolts extending from the clockworks and passing through openings in the back piece to clamp the bezel against said flange and to maintain the clockworks in assembled relation to, and within, the casing.

2. A clock of the character described comprising clockworks having a bezel, a one-piece casing for the clockworks having an integral back piece and an integral outturned flange at its forward end providing an integral front plate, and retaining means extending from the clockworks through the back piece for maintaining the clockworks assembled in the casing and with the bezel in cooperative relation with plate.

said front ALBERT P. HODGE. 

